This is not a sponsored post.  I worked with Giani Granite on a collaboration this past year when we refinished our kitchen countertops.  Since then, we have been lucky enough to form a great relationship with this amazing company and we could not be more excited for what they have to offer.

Their newest product, Chalkworthy , which might as well be called drool-worthy.  It is amazing! I nearly jumped through my ceiling when I saw the page launch.  An amazing antiquing paint to be used on both indoor and outdoor pieces, the options are endless! A thick, (Very) low VOC paint with a matte finish, can be paired with the wax of your choice.  The colors are just gorgeous.  Really, I do not think I could dream up a better launch line up.  I love a company that is constantly evolving and coming up with amazing DIY products for their clients.

(Insert major virtual high five here!!)

Look at these colors! If you guys have a garage sale find this summer to tackle, turn to Chalkworthy!

Of course the blue tones had me at hello.

I cannot wait to use these colors!

Needless to say we have a few projects up our sleeves for this summer in collaboration with Chalkworthy that we are SUPER excited to share with you all! We will be giving step by step pictures on all of our social media outlets and keep you all in the loop!

Check them out and send me pictures of any projects you tackle!

@ thethomehome[at]gmail[dot]com

We have lived in this house for a little over a year.  More than 365 days, and the equivalent amount of complaints rolling off of our tongues about our backyard.  You see, we were SO naive when we purchased this home.  We were so smitten with the mature trees that covered our backyard.  I am fairly certain I called it dreamy, and could not wait to have picnics in the shade of summer.  It only took the month of June to get an idea of what life was to be like outside in this backyard …..

It was sheer insanity!

 The bugs.  The mud from lack of sunshine.  The grass hardly grew.  Weeds EVERYWHERE.  Rocks to trip over every step you took.

Brody + Owen would go out to play and the fun would last 3 minutes until we were questioning if what they were running on was poison ivy.  I found that the deck stairs were the safest bet for avoiding spiders, I really did not expect our scenic yard to turn into such a nightmare.  We finished off the summer playing in the driveway mostly.  The boys would golf and ride their trucks in the back yard, but lack of  “clear ” room and safety kept them at bay most of the time.

You can read all about it HERE – and our wild and hysterical process of chopping down the majority of our trees in our back yard HERE.  Fast forward to a month ago when we finally took to the plunge to hire someone to “complete” our backyard.  As much as we wanted to be true DIY’ ers and do it ourselves, the time committment would have rolled us far into the summer months, leaving us little time to enjoy the finished product.  What would have taken us weekends upon weekends to complete was stripped and seeded in two days.  You can read more about that HERE

As you can see, our yard came a long way.  And what seems to be a complete step backwards in the green zone….

This definitely bummed me out a bit.  As excited as I was to see the grass grow, I was a bit nervous at the same time that we would regret taking down so many trees.  Like getting plastic surgery and waking up thinking “What the hell did I just do!?”

Thankfully, our landscapers pulled out all the stops and here we are with grass growing, kids and a new fur ball running around it and we could not be happier about the progress it has made!

I laugh out loud at our ridiculously landscaped dead tree.  It is like a giant target reminding us we forgot to chop down the biggest tree lacking every drop of life.

We are still rocking our satellite dish in our backyard like a couple of red necks, but until we chop down two more trees in the front yard ($2,300 worth) this yard ornament will work just fine!

The guys so kindly repurposed the mulch from our front yard and put in under our giant pine trees in the back.  Landscapers after this girls heart.

If you are wondering what the heck we did with all of that wood we chopped? Oy.  We still have SO much more to go shoved in a pile in the corner of our yard, while the rest that Dan and friends got to is stacked nicely in these new firewood holders Dan, his dad and brother-in-law built.

There are no words for how great it is to have grass! And sunlight! Oh the sunlight you guys!!

Today was Brody’s last day of school, and I think this summer will shape up to be the best one yet!

S’mores anyone?

I have mentioned here time and time again about how I long for built ins along the front of our family room.  Our family room is large and in charge and we have gorgeous built ins with a window seat in the back.

You can see HERE how butt naked the wall felt.  Poor baby wall.  And entire year of us telling it it was only a matter of time until it filled out.  Just like my doctor growing up, telling me my chest would fill out –  it never did.  I had to give this will a chance.

 Kohls had my back and I could not be more thrilled! A few weeks ago I found these tiered metal and wood bookcases that caught my eye.

You can find them online if your store is out! Look  HERE

So I checked them out, started crushin’ and quickly walked away before I was completely head over heels.  Originally $249, marked down to $99, holy canoli!! Such a great deal!

My ability to say no when shopping is slowing getting stronger with each “Oh no you didn’t” from Dan.  Think before you swipe.  Think before you swipe.  That’s how the story goes.  I was back at Kohls a few days later, feeling sneaky … but I had a 30% off coupon if I used my Kohls charge, and really, come on, that’s practically getting them for free.  Dan would have to approve.

I flag down the shelf, make sure there were still two left, stared at the sticker and wipe my eyes.  $74.99!!! My think before you swipe mentality totally paid off! These shelves were reduced again, and I was able to snag two of them for just over $45 a piece! I am not good at math so I refuse to give myself a headache to give you the exact dollar amount! (Ha.  Ever see friends with benefits?  Justin Timberlake + Mila Kunis are hysterical in this movie.  Justins character is awful at math and at one point he trys to gage the height of a fence by saying “I’m 6ft tall, that fence looks like three of me so…. 52. ” That is me guys.)

Back to the new book shelf!  Here is a picture of our bare naked wall.

It almost looks like the pieces are floating.  Woo-wee did it need some help!

Drum roll please ….

Are they beautiful or what?! If I had endless pockets I would have many more items to dress them up more, but for now they add so much to the space!

I love having mix and match pieces in here.  After putting these together (which by the way, are super easy to assemble) I was SO glad we did not build huge built ins here.  I think they would have battled with the other ones across the room and it would have closed our room in a ton!

The decor thus far is super simple.  A Crate of crayons for the kiddos.  Large salad bowls I could not fit anywhere else in the house, a succulent, wicker basket and two outdoor lanterns I could not pass up!

This pretty baby has more nautical decor – keeping it fresh for summer.

It is amazing what two small pieces can do to a space.    Even more, stepping outside of the matchy-matchy habit and going for a more eclectic look.  Look for deals you guys! Cheaper does not mean uglier.  All together for our painted dresser (you can see the transformation HERE) and the two bookshelves were less than $150 total!!

What do you think?

 (this is a sponsored post.  compensation in form of a gift card.  thank you for your support!)

 

 

Being a Wayfair Homemaker really is such a delight.  Already prior to having a title my online gazing/shopping habits were one of my strong suites.  I have always had a dreamer mentality when it comes to decor.  There are two things that exist in the home decor world.  Items we can afford, and the others that we dream about.

It has only been a year since we moved into our house, we have shown you what the yard originally looked like here, and what we turned it into during our tree demolition here, and most recently, what I like to call our grass transplant you can read more about here.  It has been such a nightmare, has taken up a ton of our free time and finally we got our wit about us and hired help for the end.  At this very moment we have two inches of grass, some areas more well endowed than others, but the sign of sweet backyard summertime hang outs are right around the corner!

Let us fantasize together, shall we? Picture your perfect patio.  The essential environment to host dinners, have lunch outside with your kiddos, and stay up under the lights with a cocktail in hand and good friends.  This does not have to be a dream when you have Wayfair on your side.

Here are my favorite picks that I would just do the jig if I could day dream these into my backyard right at this very moment.  My perfect patio picks and a few yard additions to really turn our house into the place to be this summer.

My ultimate patio has a main star, the table.  Nothing beats a lovely group of friends and family gathered around a large table, drinking cocktails and handfuls of delicious eats.  Large pillows to give the seats a bit more comfort, and a gorgeous rug to bring the inside to the outdoors.

I love having plenty of pieces to customize my dining experience.  You cannot go wrong with faux succulents, zero maintenance with all the wow factor.  Copper mugs and bee glasses will be just darling for guests to sip away their chosen beverage.  I’m telling you, a few special additions can raise your table decor to an entire new level.

This bar cart is just divine.  I would love to put this directly under our bay window outside.  Dress it up with a few herbs to add to cocktails.  Pile on pretty napkins, bowls with lemon and lime wedges and two small buckets on the bottom with wine chilling.  Come on, have mercy.

We have two trees that are just aching for a hammock to be draped from its branches.  I love the thought of a patio party dripping out into the backyard.  Kids and adults together enjoying the atmosphere.

The piece that will keep all the adults happy, a play set.  I nearly fainted when I stumbled across this white wood set.  I can just see it nestled into the back of our green grass yard, where all of the kids will keep themselves busy for hours while the parents enjoy each others company.

Picking each individual piece out for my dream patio really has me over the moon for the potential our patio and backyard have.

Do you guys do this too? Constant dreaming of what could be? Isn’t it nice to know that you can make it happen with Wayfair!?

• 1    chair
• 2   table
• 3   pillow
• 4   pillow
• 5   rug
• 6   copper mugs
• 7   glasses
• 8  succulents
• 9  planter
• 10 bar cart
• 11 hammock
• 12 play set 

This is NOT a sponsored post, simply me raving about a product I wish I would have used a year ago when we bought this place!

The first step into our front doors were quickly followed by an “ew”.  Exactly like Jimmy Fallon would say as Sara …

There was orange tile staring back at us the second our eyes were able to turn from the hideous red trim.  Every corner we turned on the first floor we were hoping it would end in the foyer.  It followed us into the kitchen, lucky us, the laundry room, oh, and the 1/2 bath.

The “EW!” factor was real – and the price factor for what it would be to take it out and replace it with hardwoods was not an option.  Day in and day out I spent hours trying to keep this grout tile clean.  We pulled out the stove one day to clean underneath it and that is when we saw what the cleaner grout was capable of looking like.

Toothbrushes, tens of cleaners and hours of wasted time later I was left with the same filthy grout.  Inspired by the one and only YoungHouseLove, who have retired in the blogging world (insert sad face) Sheri painted the tile grout in their foyer and the difference was jaw dropping.

The product is PolyBlend Grout Renew, I ran my stubby legs to Home Depot SO fast to pick it up! We chose platinum for the color.  Fair warning, this takes time, plenty of it.  Obviously having little ones running around in circles did not help me move as swiftly as I intended, but about 10 hours of time later split up in a few day period, I was done and completely doing the happy dance.

Can you believe that is even the same corner in our foyer?! I know the color is light, it is a light gray shade.  It is bound to get dirty, but let me tell you I would rather paint these lines once a year than waste all of the hours I did in the past cleaning them again!

The process is tedious yet therapeutic all in one swoop.  You literally, using an artist brush, paint on each individual line.  Wiping away the edging for a perfectly straight look and moving onto the next.  I found a 2 line max allowing me enough time to wipe off the excess without it drying, which than requires some scraping with your finger nail.

Our bathroom prior to the new grout.

It feels SO clean now! My tips for using this PolyBlend Grout Renew are as follows ….

Block off sections at a time, do not over do it.  Leave the space you need to walk around your house with ease and not playing “don’t step on the crack!” I lost it a few times when Olive Oil smeared paint all over our kitchen!  Paint in 2 line increments, wiping with toilet paper using your finger.  Last but not least, let it cure for a few hours before prancing all over it! It says 24 hours on the bottle, with this heat and humidity within 6 or so hours it was dry to the touch.

Let’s do another before and after for a grander reveal!